i finally got my second alex

[nain]

the person i took trevor from had promised me another baby alex in december.... i finally got her! he says that she is a girl.... she is a healthy baby but is really tiny and unweaned (we rarely get weaned birds here)

she is adorable... she has feathers but she is missing some from her chest area.... she is scared and is not interacting much ( i got her an hour ago )

i forcibly fed her half a grape and a little bit of boiled rice, because the dealer told me that she has not been fed today.....

i plan to feed her mashed grapes and grape juice and small mashed pieces of bananas and strawberries.......

trevor is very inquistive and is watching her from a distance but he is not going near her.....
is there any thing else i should keep in mind.....

thanks

 

[TexDot33]

... I could be wrong, but I have been told that lots of fruit is not good for baby birds. The sugars that are in the fruit could lead to an over development of yeast and lead to yeast infections ... can you not get weaning formula where you are?

:50:

 

[nain]

alexandrians eat fruits in the wild....

i have weaned my alex ( trevor ) with fruits, fruit juice, pulses all mixed with calcium and vitamin supplements.. he is 1 year 2 months now, he has no health problems and he is very active.... ( i take him to the avian vet every month for check ups )

as far as i know we do not get weaning formulas in india.......

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Not a veterinarian here, you should check with one. But in addition to the sugar concern you should consider fats and proteins. Young animals of any species need significant levels of fats and oils for proper neurological development. Many of the weaning formulas I've seen have main ingredients that should be limited in adult parrots, for example one I found had ground millet as the first ingredient. Much of the remainder of the ingredients were other fatty and oily ground seeds and nuts.

 

[Tracy842]

Congrats on the new Alex. I don't know much about meaning birds and have only seen weaning formula used, maybe you can order some off the internet and get it shipped to you.

 

[nain]

hi...

i shall contact the avian vet and see if she has any hand rearing formula, if she dosnt i shall try to order some online (very few sites actually ship to india, and if they do the shipping charges r outrageous)

i did speak to the avian vet in the evening and she said that fruit juice dilluted with water + the supplements should be ok.. she has also suggested various mashed pulses with supplements..... and some mashed peas for roughage....

she has also said to stay clear of milk (cause of the fact that most bird's are lactose intolerant)

the doctor has also suggested to make rotis out of wheat flour and feed her with it after she grows up a little.. (something like taccos, but without the spice and oil.. rotis are made on fire and r really soft)

i will be taking the baby (who we named khushi - which means happiness in one of our local languages) i could not do so as i got her late in the evening and the vet couldnt give me an appointment today.....

thanks a lot for your support.... the baby is very receptive, and starts looking here and there when she hears trevor's voice....(trevor is kept in the other room).... we will first take her to the vet for a check up and accordingly we shall start introducing them (only after 1 month thru the cages)

right now khushi is kept in a big basket, with the base as paper and a lot of soft cloth in it...... we are feeding her every hour (a little bit)

 

[zarafia]

India, wow. Congrats on the new baby. I have heard the warnings about fruit causing yeast infections a long time ago. I was personally warned about apples causing it. But in my opinion most yeast infections are caused by not keeping things clean enough. We would often give our breeders with babies fresh fruit and never had a yeast issue.
But as stated before fruit is not going to give your baby the protien she needs to keep growing. If you can find a commercialy made parrot pellet and soak them in water for an hour or so then you can stir them up into a mash and feed her with a syringe or spoon. Or you can feed the soaked pellets by hand before mashing them up.
If you cannot find parrot pellets you can use chicken feed pellets or crumbles, also soak them in water, but I would reccomend adding some fruit to the chicken mash.
We really take for granted the availability of pellets and handfeeding formulas, and it sounds like you have your work cut out for you raising your baby. I would also reccomend that you offer her millet sprays all the time. You would be suprised how young some birds are when they learn to fill their crops with millet.

 

[nain]

there is one thing that i would like to ask.....

near the chest of the baby parrot there is a soft swelling.... is that a food sack or is it something to be worried about??
i have never noticed it in other birds maybe because of the fact that the birds i have delt with always had feathers on thier chest..... any help will be appreciated

thanks.....

 

[Auggie's Dad]

without seeing the 'swelling' one could never know. But the crop (yes a food sack) is in the upper chest region. If it fills/swells up upon feeding that would be it, and that would be perfectly normal.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

P.S. In the absence of weaning formula your vet could probably recommend some human foods to replace the commercially made stuff. Examples to consider and discuss with a vet would be peanut butter (or tahini perhaps if that is locally available.)

There is no magic to the weaning formulas, they just make it easy to get the right balance of nutrients for that period in the birds life. In their absence a home made mixture can be made with everything they need; but thats where the vet comes in to advise on the right nutrient balances.

 

[nain]

thanks for the info

the baby ate strawberries and orange juice.. i also gave her a paste of some finely grounded peanut (the doctor said to start a little bit) just for the essential oils....

btw i did go to the vet and she said that the baby is healthy and has no problems...

the vet also mentioned that it would be a good idea to vaccinate the birds against new castles, rani (a common poultry disease) and avian flu.... i have never got any of my birds vaccinated before, nor have my friends, so i was wondering if this was really needed... however, if it is needed then i shall surely get them vaccinated.....

i shall call up the vet and ask her about the peanut butter.. i havnt eaten it ever so i was wondering it has artificial sweetners .....

thanks

 

[Auggie's Dad]

there are a variety of peanut butters available (at least here) The ground peanut paste is what I was essentially referring to. At least here (in the US) peanut butter is a very common and widely available at any grocery or convenience store.

I hope I am not displaying my ignorance of other cultures but I had mentioned tahini (sesame paste) as I thought that it may be common there; I know it is in the middle east, but I have never been to India.

As far as vaccinations I haven't had any for Auggie. I think he did get a couple at the breeder before I got him. Regardless though there are different regional diseases, so I'd go with whatever the vet advises there.

Good to hear that he is healthy.

 

[nain]

actually i dont know the local name of sesame paste

thanks for all the help.. u guys have ben a great support....

the doc also said to feed her finely chopped pieces of hard boiled egg (without salt or any spices) i did feed her a little bit today and she loved it.....

i have kept some pulses/legumes to sprout.. they should be ready in about 5-7 hours....